I laughed my way through the office politics of a “real job” for more than two years while I planned this blog. So, tell me this isn’t a wonderful coincidence. Some 714 days into the planning process, the “Coming Soon” page for PingWi-Fi finally went up on the Internet. It was a small first step on what promises to be a long winding road. But apparently it was meant to be – right down to the very day.

Get this. On day one, after I sat in Starbucks for a couple of hours, testing the silly “Coming Soon” page … sending myself dozens of congratulations e-mails to ping the site … I walked out into the parking lot. Immediately next to my newly door dinged SUV was this huge green monster of an RV … just about to pull away. There was a big road trip logo on the side of the beast. So, the journalist in me kicked in. Not unlike that student in Tiananmen Square, I stepped directly in front of the vehicle to block its path.

The guy driving the RV looked a little worried at first, but smiled, and rolled down his window.

“Hey, I saw the road trip logo on your sweet ride, and I just wanted to say ‘Hi’ and see what you’re up to.”

He stopped. The team threw open the escape hatch and invited me in.

So – on day one of PingWi-Fi, I got to sit around and chat with part of the cast for the upcoming season of PBS’ ongoing TV series “Roadtrip Nation.” Nice people … A couple of guys from Florida, a Californian of course, seems like there was one guy from Atlanta … and a woman from Australia.

See fo yo own self:

http://www.roadtripnation.com/

Of course — trying to grow my project — I asked them if they would like to put a little Ping into their film documentary, with a quick impromptu interview – perhaps a conversation between roadtrippers. Ha! They were so tired, hot and seemingly miserable … sitting in a parking lot, with no air conditioning and 100 degree weather. They told me it was their day off, and that the film equipment was buried deep in the underbelly of the beast. Note2Self: I gotta start taking days off. If the TV travelers can, then so can I.

But no day off that day. I clicked off a few shots with my iPhone camera and gave them directions to the nearest watering hole … the Forest Park swimming pool.

Tell me that was not the PERFECT beginning for this blog – a chance meeting with TV roadtripping types! Did they have Wi-Fi onboard their RV? Well … the iPhone didn’t pick up the signal of a hotspot. I’m thinking not.

Regardless – Day 1 of PingWi-Fi gets a near-perfect 6 out of 7 pings on our homegrown rating system.

Ping Us. We’ll Ping Yo Back!